Mongolia

[ciukes]

Hi guys,

I'm planning a trip with friends to mongolia on May'13. We will drive a van to Novosibirsk and ride from there to Baykal lake and down to Mongolia. This is rough plan: http://goo.gl/72RoN

Can people who visited this area share their wisdom?
* Maps: Any decent maps available? I found few sources myself but the maps seem to be low quality products.
* What is food/water/petrol availability?
* Any other tips from experienced travellers will be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
Marcin

[Wildman]

Marcin

Go to Ride reports, search and read. For example: http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=810199

Ask these guys directly.

[erik Fl]

Hey Marcin,

I'm planning a quite similar trip...Belgium to Mongolia in may/aug 2013 :-)

Have a look at my post please ... http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=843444

So, maybe we can share some information and ideas...or even having a meet somewhere under the Dgenghis Khan statue in the mongolian dust :-)

Cheers, Erik

ps: what I already know is that the road from Novosibirsk till Mongolian border (the Altay-region) is fabulous...wonderfull landscapes, impressive mountains, good road and perfect camping-spots :-)

[Mark Manley]

You will find some information here, check the Northern Asia section.

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hubb/

This is also a useful resource.

http://www.caravanistan.com/

[motoreiter]

I'm planning to go from Ulan Ude to Mongolia next summer, not sure when yet, probably July/August.

Be sure to get Colebatch's waypoints from the stickied thread in the HUBB North Asia forum. I've got a Garmin Montana and am also checking out Garmin's Birdseye satellite images to use on it. Looks pretty cool but not sure how well it will work.

[SeanF]

In my experience...the aimag capitals will have opportunities for food, water & petrol re-supply. Also hotels, possibly with showers. If a hotel doesn't have showers, there will be a public bath house. (Basically pay to shower. Bring your own everything, especially sandals. And don't touch the walls. )

My usual strategy was to rest, shower & get a few day's worth of packable food while at the capitals, and camp in the wild spaces in between. Food choices were dried or canned soups & noodles, cured meats, dried fruit, nuts, bread if you can find it (if you ever smell fresh bread baking, stop and get it!), jam, crackers, coffee, juice, etc. Most of what is in the shops has an expiration date that is very distant in the future, so it can be tough to get decent stuff. I budgeted for a gallon of water per day. Half gallon for drinking and half for cooking & cleaning. I also brought a water filter so I could replenish from questionable sources.

I always had sunblock and hand sanitizer nearby and made it a habit to use them religiously.

My map was a physical map by Gizi maps, available here. Accuracy was, I believe, as good as it gets for Mongolia, and it's a good quality map.